Drive to seize guns in riot-torn areas of India's Orissa

Oct 4, 2008, 11:29 GMT

New Delhi - Authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa launched a drive Saturday to seize guns in Khandamal district, which has been wracked by violence against minority Christians, news reports said.

A total of 144 persons surrendered their firearms, while 361 others who had licensed guns ignored the order, Khandamal district police chief Praveen Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI news agency. He said these guns as well as illegal ones would be seized.

At least 103 person have been arrested for instigating violence in the district.

Kumar said the police have procured motorbikes from the forest department and other government departments to patrol remote villages.

Containing violence in Khandamal, where 35 people, most of them Christians, have been killed in communal violence for more than a month has been difficult because of the hilly, forest terrain and the lack of proper roads to villages.

The violence was sparked by the killing of a Hindu spiritual leader who was leading a campaign against conversion to Christianity in the region.

Since the murder of Laxmananda Saraswati on August 23 by unidentified gunmen, fanatical Hindu groups have indulged in violent protests in which hundreds of houses and churches belonging to Christians were burnt down.

Several people have died in clashes between the two communities and with the police.

There has been no let up of the violence and two more men, one Hindu and the other a Christian, were hacked to death by a violent mob in Sindhipanka village on Friday, PTI reported.

The federal government has issued a stern warning to the Orissa government to bring the situation under control. Orissa is ruled by an opposition coalition of which the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party is a member.

'The cabinet took note of the situation in Orissa and expressed its serious concern over what is happening. The home minister was asked to submit an appraisal note at the next meeting of the cabinet,' federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said after a federal cabinet meeting on Friday.

'The cabinet felt strongly that the Orissa government needs to do more,' Dasmunshi added.

While Dasmunshi ruled out dismissal of the state government, Home Minister Shivraj said in an interview to NDTV television channel on Saturday that the Orissa government's 'inaction' was leading to a rising clamour for federal rule.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have expressed anguish over the situation during the cabinet meeting. He also mentioned that he had to face embarrassing questions over the attacks during his recent meetings with leaders from Europe and the United States.